The present authors studied oxidation behaviours of 0.008∼0.470 wt%Ce-Fe alloys in air at high temperatures (800°C, 3 hr; 1000°C, 2 hr), particularly the oxide layers produced on them under the same oxidation conditions, using the thermo-balance, X-ray probe microanalyzer, X-ray diffraction and optical microscopic methods. The main results obtained are as follows: (1) It was verified by the X-ray probe microanalyzer measurments that the Ce concentration was enriched along the inner oxide layer being in contact with the surface of the 0.025 wt%Ce-Fe alloy which was oxidized at 800°C for 3 hr. At the higher temperature (1000°C, 2 hr), the 0.470 wt%Ce-Fe alloy was covered with the thick oxide layer of high Ce concentration. (2) The X-ray diffraction patterns obtained from inner oxide layers of the alloys containing Ce more than 0.292 wt% after the oxidation at 800°C for 3 hr showed the existence of the CeFeO
3 phase (perovskite type, pseudo cubic:
a0=3.91
5 Å), besides iron oxides. CeFeO
3 and CeO
2 crystals were also detected from inner oxide layers produced on the alloys containing Ce more than 0.232 wt% by the higher temperature oxidation (1000°C, 2 hr). (3) CeFeO
3 crystals were not produced by sintering butches of α-Fe
2O
3-CeO
2 and Fe
3O
4-CeO
2 mixtures in vacuum (ca. 10
−3 mmHg) at the same temperatures as used for the oxidation experiments of Fe-Ce alloys and at 1200°C for 24 hr. CeFeO
3 crystals, however, were observed by the X-ray diffraction method, when the butch of the FeO-CeO
2 mixture was sintered under the same conditions. Therefore, it should be reasonable to consider that the formation mechanism of CeFeO
3 crystals detected from the inner oxide layer of Fe-Ce alloys depends on the solid reaction of FeO and CeO
2 crystals at high temperatures.
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